Flower prints and stripes... still in vogue? - YouLookFab Forum

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Flower prints and stripes... still in vogue?

krishnidoux

Veteran

Angie mentioned in her post that that it was the season for mix prints, and I'm all for this! I love exploring with this difficult, advanced fashion skill.
Stripes combined with flower prints are often a winner. And some members on this forum have nailed it with utter elegance and perfection.

Yet, I feel I have seen it so much in the past 4 years... and now it's starting to turn out as premade prints in ultra conservative sales points, pre-made geriatric outfits on cruise outlets and on piles at Costco. When I see it worn by a co-worker who has ZERO interest in fashion but who bought it just because it was the tee-shirt on sale that season...you know?
... or am I the only one to notice this?

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Dressing

29 replies

Latest reply was from

UmmLila (Lisa)

Veteran

I have a shirt of this sort (flowers overlaid on stripes) from Boden. Last year or maybe the year before. I like it because all you have to do to add a maximal touch is wear it under a jacket in one of its colors. (But, I agree, it's an idea that has been around for longer years than that. I don't see it too much in my vicinity so I'm not over it.)

Suz

(website)

Veteran

I think it's partly in the execution, you know? It's how you style it. So worn with current items by you, it would look like one type of thing; worn by your colleague, another.

Besides, for all we know, her fashion conscious friend made a gift of it to her!

Jenni NZ

Veteran

I agree that it has been around for a long time. At least 2-3 summers ago I was looking at quite an expensive one which I didn't buy. Pre-mixed is a filter-down of trends I agree. A bit like what Miranda Priestly says in The Devil Wears Prada to Anne Hathaway's character about "cerulean", do you think?

krishnidoux

Veteran

Jenni, I was thinking about this very thing... lol!
But my goal isn't to be snobby about it. Those pre-made tees can be very cute.

I just noticed that something that used to be ingenious, unique and daring, and manifestly imagined by the wearer (say, a classic boat collar striped knit top worn in conjunction with a deep, fierce, red and pink flower print scarf) can now be found as a pre-made print mix, which, to me, kills all the fun out of it. Because part of the original appeal was the wearer's intrepidity and aesthetics awareness. With something that is already made for you this is gone.

Maybe my images are too offensive... I am sorry. I am not judging my co-worker (who was the first to admit to me she didn't choose her tee, it was just on sale and came in her size, and frankly had she had a choice she would have selected the stripes or the flower prints alone...) (and this is when I thought of TDWP). I am not judging post-retirement cruise vacations, I think they are great! And I hope to go on one myself i the future. I am looking at a specific type of products offered there.

As for stripes + flowers, the repeated cloning is seriously dampening my initially wholehearted enthusiasm for the concept.
Am I alone?

krishnidoux

Veteran

This is the scene I think:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ja2fgquYTCg

unfrumped

Veteran

First, that clip! I could watch that forever.

I think the premixes of anything are fraught. Yet that's s kind of potential snobbery for me. Things like attached shirt tails under sweaters and fake shirt collars. While mixing prints yourself or layering gives some room for personal interpretation. But then that is akways prone to messing up and isn't as quick!

LaPed

Veteran

I have a bit of a stink-eye for tops like the one you describe. Pre-mixed often feels over-designed to me. And it reminds me of kids' clothing. Kid's clothing is full of print-over-pattern tops and I think it often looks too cutesy, gimmicky, or just too visually busy, even for toddlers. It's not that I think it looks inherently awful, I just wouldn't buy it in the first place because the longevity and utility for me would be very low. But a striped top plus a floral scarf -- that's a whole different kettle of fish, IMO.

Staysfit

Veteran

I have some understanding that there are people who are not particularly focussed on curating their wardrobes, but still want to embrace trends that they observe when they are out and about. I see this as a form of fast fashion. It's for a person who plans to wear it for a limited time and then move on quickly to the next trend. A curated wardrobe focused person might have a striped shirt, and a floral scarf. They can be used separate from one another, and or uniquely paired as Krishnidoux has pointed out. I think the attitude towards personal style between these two types of people would be very different. Unique personal style might be more highly valued by one than the other.

Runcarla

Veteran

Being a collector of stripes, I would pick up a top like you show. Pairing it with a white skirt, blush chinos, or full dressy navy trousers or crops. Throw a jean jacket over and silver sneakers. I think it's all in the styling!

kkards

Veteran

love this...bought something similar this year from Jcrew...i'm a pattern mixing novice and this worked for me....

Michael De Feo for J.Crew striped T-shirt with painted flowers

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Staysfit

Veteran

Ah, yes, I see that is another reason for someone to purchase!

Gaylene

Veteran

I think it comes down to personal choice--dated is in the eye of the beholder. I also get uneasy around these discussions because it's so easy for personal feelings to intrude: for example, if it's being sold at Costco or Walmart, it's too popular to be fashionable.

Most of us incorporate items into our wardrobe because an item appeals to us. To me that is a better route towards a unique personal style than trying to determine the inherent "trendiness" of a mass market piece. As Carla says, it's how a person chooses to wear her clothes which determines their fashionability--at least to my eyes.

Anonymous

This was a strange trend to begin with and I am SO surprised to see it at Costco (was it really at Costco?!) because to me, this is quite a subversive style. You're taking a classic look, the breton top, and sort of 'defacing' it with florals. 'Defacing' is probably too strong a word, but you know what I mean.

Anonymous

I get it. Those fake layered sweaters with slits in the side exposing a pretend poly cami, fake printed t-shirts with stripes and flowers and stars - it all bugs me. And I have two or three of those fake layered sweaters that I wear with the appropriate level of shame

Andrea H

I wear fake layered sweaters with absolutely NO shame because too many actual layers make me want to crawl out of my skin. And my taste is deeply suspect.

krishnidoux

Veteran

Smittie, I am pretty sure it was Costco, as I am often there, and as I also browse in the clothes section because I happily shop there as well as other places. I found one of my most useful and cool looking tee there once (a deep turquoise 3/4 dolman sleeve scoop neck t-shirt I have worn a zillion times). But I wouldn't swear on it, maybe it was Walmart or Sears.

krishnidoux

Veteran

Kkards this top is just lovely. This is not at all want I meant, though. The top you show has a very interesting print, that is a mischievous twist on classic stripe; like a conniving wink. It conveys deconstruction, playfulness and fashion laughing at itself: utterly, completely postmodern. I love it! I want one!

krishnidoux

Veteran

Andrea, sometimes indeed pre-made pairings are an ingenious way to wear a fashion that would otherwise not be accessible in ones climate.

Anonymous

Which is why I have a few and wear them despite hating them. lol.

Jenni NZ

Veteran

Hi just woken up and went to our computer that the speakers aren't broken on to watch TDWP clip, which I enjoyed! I wasn't being snobbish either when I mentioned that clip. I don't think I'm particularly snobbish about clothes ( maybe just a "leetle" bit) and I do buy sometimes at The Warehouse which is our equivalent of say Walmart, though not as often now I've found my good outlet stores and my 70% off section of a good fashion chain. I just found that clip/scene interesting from when I first watched TDWP years ago, to understand how fashion sort of works, and WHY some years you can find certain colours you like and other years you can hardly find them at all. I just feel that probably the sort of clothing you find at those levels has really filtered down so much that it loses a little of the individuality that someone can show if they mix something independently. I don't think there's anything really "wrong" with that, it's just part of the commodification and fast speed of fashion trends that mean we all have however many times bigger wardrobes than were had several decades ago, and that there is so much waste, and workers are poorly treated in unsafe factories and all the rest of it.I am trying, with only some success and hoping not to overwhelm myself with guilt, with ideas like wearing everything 20-30 times and reading ethical fashion reports, to incorporate my interest in fashion with my social justice self.

krishnidoux

Veteran

Jenni, you say it so well.

krishnidoux

Veteran

Doh! Digging in some boxes of summer clothes in the basement, I realized I MYSELF OWN a pre-made print-mix garment, and count it as one of my favorites in summer! Only it's on a skirt, not on a tee, but same thing. Oh, well...

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Runcarla

Veteran

Now I'm obsessed with that T, krishnidoux, and WANT it!

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Ha!! So funny. It's all in the execution, right?

But I have to admit I share your hesitation about pre-mixes. I tend to back away from them but always thought this was the conservative, classic side of me speaking along with the fiercely independent side -- like a three year old I want to "do myself!!"

approprio

(website)

Veteran

I think a it has a lot to do with the quality of the design in the first place. For instance, the skirt you posted and the J.Crew shirt kkards linked are both done very well - someone's thought about how the patterns interact and the result is quite pleasing. On the other hand, the shirt you posted at the top is - dare i say it - a rather crude and clumsy rendition. The flowers aren't particularly attractive and they don't play well with the stripes. It looks a bit slap-dash.

I mix patterns all the time in outfits and I always try to pay attention to relationships and proportions. It's tricky. As Suz says, it has a lot to do with execution. Like her, I always prefer to do it myself.

krishnidoux

Veteran

Approprio, thank you for putting the issue into words in such an exact, clear way!

Sal

Veteran

Late to this thread but I really enjoyed it

krishnidoux

Veteran

Glad you did Sal!

Anonymous

Lol!